


Hunt for the Jedi

by Vault_Emblem



Series: Sith Obi-Wan AU [6]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Blood and Injury, Decapitation, Developing Relationship, First Kiss, Grand Inquisitor Maul, M/M, Order 66 Happened Differently (Star Wars), Purge Trooper Cody, Rivals to Lovers, Sith Obi-Wan Kenobi, Some bits and references to other SW media, background Cody/Obi-Wan/Maul
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:54:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28833018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vault_Emblem/pseuds/Vault_Emblem
Summary: After becoming the Emperor, Obi-Wan sends his most trusted men on a hunt across the galaxy. The prey? The surviving Jedi.
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody/Darth Maul, CC-2224 | Cody/Obi-Wan Kenobi/Darth Maul
Series: Sith Obi-Wan AU [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1818589
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	Hunt for the Jedi

**Author's Note:**

> This is a gift for my bestie's birthday. I've jumped a bit in the AU timeline, but I said from the start that I wasn't going to post stuff in chronogical order, so...

Despite the attack at the Temple being a success, there are some Jedi who managed to escape with their lives still intact. This is nothing the new appointed Emperor hadn’t predicted already, however, which is why as soon as he rises to power, he creates a special force to take care of this deal: the Inquisitorium, made up of force sensitive user who share the anti-Jedi sentiment. Most of them are young, the same young people who have been disappointed by the state of the Jedi Order - Maul is pretty sure he saw Oiffee around - and others who have been charmed by Obi-Wan’s ways. This must be Kenobi’s greatest strength: the ability to draw people to his side without the use of coercion or torture.

Even Ventress has joined their ranks, which shook Maul a great deal when he first found out.

“Patience,” Obi-Wan tells him when he comes to him hateful and spiteful, demanding revenge for what she did to Savage. “You already got your revenge against Sidious. You’ll get this in good time too.”

Maul growls at him, something he hasn’t done for a very long time.

“I don’t want to wait! She needs to die!”

“And she will,” Obi-Wan reassures him, resting his hands on Maul’s shoulders, “But at the moment we need all the allies we can get. Once she’s no longer useful, we’ll make an example out of her.”

Oh, so that’s Obi-Wan’s plan. Maul should’ve known: he never leaves anything to chance; he always has a plan for every single one of them. Even though he still isn’t happy with this, he knows better than not to trust that Kenobi will maintain his word - he did it already.

“Fine, but I sure hope you weren’t planning to make us work together,” he threatens. “If I see her around, I won’t care about waiting.”

“Of course,” Obi-Wan replies, not worried at all by what he just said. “Besides, I’ve already devised a plan to deal with the remaining Jedi.”

That’s good, Maul thinks: finally a way to put his skills to use, something he got to do only recently, once he got out of hiding. He’s enjoyed it of course, but he also needs more.

Still, nothing would’ve prepared him for Obi-Wan’s next words.

“You’re going to work with Cody.”

This is unexpected, though Maul supposes it actually isn’t that much: Kenobi excluded, since he’s required to be the Emperor so he can’t busy himself directly with these matters, they’re the two most qualified people for the job. It’s weird that Skywalker - or Vader as he calls himself now - hasn’t been mentioned, probably because of Amidala’s pregnancy - aren’t the twins due soon?

Still… Cody, eh?

The two of them still haven’t had the chance to work together, since Maul was supposed to still be hiding, but now they have to, Maul as the appointed Grand Inquisitor and Cody as head of the Army - of course Kenobi was going to promote him.

As of now, their only interaction has been the night of “celebration” spent with Obi-Wan after the official fall of the Republic, and it’s safe to say that they didn’t really pay that much attention to each other, more focused on their mutual partner.

Oh well, this is surely going to be interesting.

That sentiment of curiosity leaves Maul immediately as soon as he and Cody actually get to work: they’ve already had their bickering as they’ve tracked down the remaining Jedi or any kind of deserter, yet despite this it’s been mostly… well, not _fun_ because Maul would rather die than to admit anything positive about his… How is he even supposed to call him? Co-worker? Lover of his lover? Ugh, it’s so confusing.

Anyway, even though he wouldn’t say that it’s fun it’s definitely… something adjacent to it.

He certainly appreciates Cody’s tactical mind, although he would also like to say that he has had his own genial moments as well. He can’t wait to get his hands dirty and, unexpectedly, he feels the same coming from Cody; after coming back from what Maul supposes was his last confrontation with one of his “brothers” - he doesn’t know the details since Cody told Kenobi, not him, about this - he seems eager to get some work done. Is this his own personal way to forget that he once shared a bond with the people they’re hunting down? Maybe; Maul doesn’t care. It’s not his business.

Still, even to this day, Maul is still unimpressed with him. He still doesn’t understand why Obi-Wan would be interested in someone like him. The time they’ve spent planning and preparing for their attacks certainly hasn’t helped but that might be more due to the fact that Cody doesn’t fear him, thus when discussing tactics isn’t afraid to call Maul out on his bullshit, something that he, of course, doesn’t like.

If he’s so willing to interrupt him each time, then he should go hunting Jedi down on his own, see what he cares.

Despite wanting so bad to tell him off, Maul holds his tongue - many times. You could say that he’s doing it for Kenobi; he knows that there must be a purpose behind him deciding that they should work together, and he’s sure that he’d be happy if they try to get along, no matter how hard it may be.

Everything changes, however, when he sees Cody fight.

If there’s a thing about the Jedi that Maul has to give to them, is that they’re good at hiding, but even that isn’t enough. As if they could ever escape from their destiny.

“I hope you’re ready,” Maul tells Cody. They’re both standing in the ship’s control room, working on their strategy one last time before commencing their hunt. “I won’t be slowed down, so you’ll better keep up or you’ll be left alone.”

Cody narrows his eyes at those words, but his expression soon turns challenging.

“If you have enough time to make these statements, maybe you’ll be the one left behind after all,” he retorts, making Maul greet his teeth. Who does he think he is?! He is _nothing_. He should bow down to him…

Huh, they’re approaching their target.

“I suggest you prepare for landing, _sir_ ,” Cody says then, clearly mocking him. Maul shoots him a dirty glare but refuses to take the bait.

He’ll surely show him on the battlefield who is superior.

This should enrage Maul, make him see completely red, and yet… it doesn’t, despite the fact that he’s pretty much eating his own words.

He just really wasn’t expecting to assist to such a way of fighting on Cody’s part: he would’ve expected any clone to prefer fighting with their trusted blasters - useless weapons, truly - but not Cody; where he truly shines is in hand-to-hand combat.

To Maul’s surprise, he manages to go toe to toe even against Jedi and come out victorious. What impresses Maul the most - besides the force with which he body slams people, or how hard he kicks - is that he’d often manage to snatch the lightsabers out of the Jedi’s hands, only to use them against their own owners.

Now Maul is starting to see what Obi-Wan sees in him.

There’s a fire inside him, a fire that’s so well hidden under a proper façade that Maul has noticed it only now, but it’s there, and now Cody has a chance to let it all out.

Maybe Obi-Wan was right when he said that, under certain aspects, they’re similar.

It certainly contributes on making Maul curious about Cody. Did they teach him how to fight like this on Kamino? Did he have to attend to some secret special class that his brothers weren’t privy of? Or does he have to thank Kenobi for these displays?

These questions don’t even boil down all the things he now wants to know about him. Maybe when this is over he’ll ask him for a sparring match, curious to test his skills against his, though he’d surely prevail. Still, he wouldn’t mind seeing for it himself.

Things have… changed, between he and Cody: what has started as a very rocky partnership has become something different, even though it’s hard to say where they exactly stand towards each other. They clearly respect each other more, as Cody hasn’t been the only one making a show of his skills.

It makes hunting down Jedi together more bearable.

Maul has been looking towards this for a long time: finally, he can hunt down and destroy the Jedi, just like he’s been raised to do. Of course he was going to do it in the most brutal way possible.

He wonders if Cody can sense the fury in the way he twirls his staff, if he can sense the rage he feels whenever his eyes lay on a Jedi, if he can sense the savage satisfaction when he ends their life.

Look at him, wondering if Cody pays attention to him like a fool. And yet, he can’t stop doing it.

He could easily slip in his mind and gather all the info he needs on the subject… except that for some reason, he doesn’t dare.

In order to justify this, he keeps telling himself that it’s just because Cody must be trained in sensing if someone’s inside his mind and he’d get suspicious if he found Maul rummaging through his thoughts. The truth, however, is that… He doesn’t even know it. He supposes that he respects him too much to do it. That’s it. Nothing more.

Who is he kidding? Of course there is more, and Maul can’t help but to curse himself for having fallen for this obvious bait.

Was this Kenobi’s plan all along? Maul doesn’t doubt it not even for a moment: everything’s possible when it comes to that impossible man, he’s learned.

He supposes he’ll just need to wait and see how things move along, but one thing is sure: sooner or later, he’ll make his move.

Maul surprises himself with how patient he’s being about all this. Even with all the Jedi they have caught and killed, he still hasn’t given in the euphoria, focused on doing a good job until the end; he won’t rest until he’s found all the Jedi.

His self-control is about to encounter its greatest challenge, however. We shall see if he’ll manage to resist this time…

If there’s a thing that is certain, is that this Jedi hunt still hasn’t sated his thirst. They have met many adversaries, but most of them were either escaped younglings and padawans, or old Jedi, nothing that would really test Maul’s skills.

This, however, might change soon, because they have received intel about another Jedi survivor, but this one isn’t like the others: Jaro Tapal, tactical genius and a force to be reckoned with in combat. When the order to kill the Jedi had been issued he had managed to escape; they had gotten only his padawan, who is now undergoing some… _constructive therapy_. He’ll join their ranks soon, though the timing could’ve been better: imagine if they had send him to bring Tapal down.

Oh well, at least this gives Maul a chance. He can’t wait to see the life abandon his eyes.

It certainly speaks a lot about how things have changed between him and Cody that, as they’re preparing for landing, they’re not snarking at each other like they used to do.

The atmosphere is still quite tense, but for a different reason than the usual. Is it worry? No, it can’t be. Maul is confident in his and Cody’s abilities. Tapal might be a mighty Jedi, but he must also be weakened by the months spent on the run.

Underestimating the enemy, however, is a grave mistake, something that neither Maul nor Cody wish to make; nothing is more dangerous than a cornered animal. They’ll have to be careful.

Still, he _hates_ this silence. He can’t believe he’s saying this, but it’s making him miss the old times, when they’d bicker and bicker until it was time to get things done.

Eventually he can’t take it anymore, and he snaps at Cody.

“Say something, damn it!”

Cody tenses, immediately turning to look at him with narrowed eyes.

“What am I supposed to say?”

“I don’t know! Something!”

“I am focusing on the upcoming battle,” Cody immediately replies, sharp tone, “You should do the same, if you don’t want to get your shebs kicked.”

Maul has no idea what “shebs” means, but he’s sure it mustn’t be anything nice. He growls, stomping towards Cody until they’re face to face - metaphorically, since Cody is unfortunately much taller than Maul, but he won’t let himself get intimidated by this minuscule detail. Of the two, he’s the one with true power after all.

“ _Watch your tongue_ ,” he threatens immediately.

The tension is high, very high. They both feel like if they don’t do something immediately, things are going to escalate; in which way it will happen, however, they have no idea.

All it takes is for the control panel to signal that they’ve reached their destination for the spell to break.

Maul has no idea where that came from; thinking about it now, it almost seems like it wasn’t actually him speaking, but someone else who has his same features.

Is it worry what caused this? Is he really worried? He doesn’t know, which only serves to irritate him further. He never liked to deal with these things.

He can at least harvest this rage, keep it inside to unleash it on Jaro Tapal. With his fury by his side, he can prevail.

… There’s something else, however, isn’t it? No matter how much Maul can’t deny its existence and ignore it altogether, there’s a feeling that wasn’t there before, something that grew the more time he spent with Cody: he won’t let the Jedi lay not even a hand on him.

This is something he used to feel only for Kenobi, this sort of twisted sentiment, a desire for Cody to become his, because that’s all this is about to Maul: belonging, having. He wants Cody like he has Obi-Wan, and he wants him _badly_.

He grunts, shaking his head.

Not now. He needs to focus on the upcoming battle, he needs to focus on the _Jedi_.

If they manage to bring the famed Jaro Tapal down, it will be a heavy hit for the few remaining Jedi. Their moral would be destroyed, their hope tarnished. They might even get new people to join their ranks if they finally understand how much powerful the Dark Side is: if not even Tapal can survive against it, who can?

His focus gets shattered once again when his arm gets grabbed by Cody. Maul’s first instinct is to put his lightsaber at his throat, roaring at him to never touch him again, but he holds back for the sole reason that he doesn’t mind it as much as he thought; his hold is strong, grounding. It makes Maul understand why Obi-Wan might like having his hands on him all the time.

“ _Hey._ ”

“What?” Maul replies, trying to keep his tone even despite the fury of emotions that is boiling inside him.

For a moment, he senses hesitation in Cody; this must be the first this happens: he’s usually so sure of himself - and arrogant, Maul would add, but maybe that’s just because he doesn’t bow down to him like everyone else does - that it feels weird, seeing him without knowing what to say.

“What?” he repeats, then. He could easily snatch his arm away from Cody’s grasp, but he still doesn’t.

“Just…” Cody begins, now looking more determined, that kind of determination that one has after they have taken an important decision, though Maul isn’t privy to what this decision is exactly, “… Be safe.”

For a moment, Maul doesn’t know what to think: did Cody, General Cody head of the New Army of the Empire, just tell him, Grand Inquisitor Darth Maul, to be safe?

He doesn’t know… _Wait_.

His heart… It’s beating so fast.

It feels like it’s going to burst out of his chest, bleeding and pulsating.

Maul doesn’t know why it’s behaving like this, but he knows that he doesn’t like it. It makes him feel weak and vulnerable, open, exposed.

He _hates_ it.

He shakes himself away like he’s been burned, eyeing Cody with fury.

“I don’t need these useless words,” he hisses, seething in rage. How dares he to make him feel like this?

Nothing transpires from Cody’s face at those words, which only succeeds in irritating him further; why can’t he say something, anything?!

He gets up with the intention of leaving the cockpit to find a quiet place where he can meditate, foster his anger even more. And yet, as he’s about to exit, he stops, gritting his teeth; this doesn’t feel right, this doesn’t feel right at all!

A sigh leaves his mouth, and with it, part of the rage he felt leaves his body as well. This is stupid, so very stupid, and yet Maul can’t help but to turn his head towards Cody, observing him; to his surprise, he’s giving his back to him, eyes fixed on the ship’s controls. He appears so distant now, despite the fact that they’re just a few steps away.

It feels that all the progress they’ve made all this time has vanished in thin air, and despite telling himself that it doesn’t matter, Maul can’t stand for it, thus, with an immense effort on his part, he brings himself to speak again.

“You too… _Be safe._ ”

He leaves before Cody has to occasion to say anything, missing the sudden way he turns around, watching Maul go with a surprised - and hopeful - gaze.

As the make their way towards where they know Tapal is constructing a base - admitting that we can call an amass of rocks in a backwater Outer Rim planet a base - they begin to suspect that the intel they got might be faulty: there’s no sign of sentient activity, besides, who would make camp here, at the end of the road, against the mountains, with the only way to escape being the same you have to walk to get there? It seems incredibly stupid, and certainly not something a “tactical genius” like Tapal would do.

It’s only after the entire squad - yes, they didn’t go alone, but brought some troopers with them, just in case - have completely entered the inlet, that they realize that this is obviously a trap, and they’ve fallen right into it.

They are immediately proven right when a voice comes from behind them.

“Empire scum!”

They all turn around immediately, and behind them, a tall, imposing lasat male stands. He must be Tapal. How foolish of him to show himself to them like this; trap or not, he should’ve stayed hidden.

Maul and Cody immediately walk through the front. Despite Cody wearing his bucket - blacks suits him way better than his old colors - Maul can feel his trepidation even without looking at his face. He feels the same.

He’s about to address Tapal - to challenge the fool - when the Jedi speaks again:

“We only want information. I’ll grant you your life if you surrender and help us.”

“Still a Jedi through and through,” Maul hisses, hate echoing at every word. Who does he think he’s going to please acting like that? It’s not going to help him… Wait. Did he say “us”?

As if to confirm Maul’s suspicions, soon Tapal is joined by two Jedi… no, they look like padawans. They aren’t the only ones that show up; he doesn’t even need to turn around to see them: he feels them in the Force already. But who does he feel? All the other Jedi that have them surrounded, emerging from the mountain side.

They have really trapped them.

How were they supposed to know that Tapal had managed to find not only just one survivor, but an entire group of them, when the intelligence they have gathered has shown nothing of this?

In the end it’s their fault. They did what they weren’t supposed to do: underestimate the enemy. They should’ve known that Tapal would’ve tried to pull something, which apparently translates into creating a small rebellious force. Smart on his part, but it’s not going to work, not with the small number of people he’s managed to amass.

Despite this, however, they do outnumber Maul, Cody and the small squad of troopers they’re leading, this already without taking in account that they’ve cut any possible escape route, meaning that even if they’d want to retreat, they’d still have to carve a path. Sure, they could escalate the mountain wall, but that would be suicide.

A crooked smile appears on Maul’s lips: finally, _finally_ , an occasion to prove his power.

He exchanges a gaze with Cody, gaze feverish, and he knows that the other feels the same sort of trepidation he’s feeling.

“Tapal is mine,” he says then, “You can take out the others.”

Cody nods, and then he’s immediately barking orders, loading his blaster and taking his first shots.

“Charge!”

It all happens in a flurry. Maul barely feels what’s going on around him, brain entirely focused on Tapal. He’s had the courage to ambush then, surrounding them in what the fools think will be their resting place; oh, he understands nothing then.

He takes a running jump, reaching Tapal’s position. He has to give to him: he’s not hiding behind the people he’s riled up against them, instead he’s taking part directly into the action. Still, a courageous fool remains a fool.

Their sabers clash with a loud noise.

“You still face me head on, I applaud your courage,” Tapal says, voice deep but tone neutral. It makes Maul’s blood boil in his veins with his fake calm. As if Maul can’t sense his exhaustion, his fear.

“Save your nice words, _Jedi_ ,” he hisses. “No matter what tricks you use, the power of the Dark Side is too strong for you!”

“You say so, and yet I’m the one who trapped you!” If Maul been slower, he wouldn’t have dodged the kick that Tapal sends his way in time, but he manages to do it, jumping and lending a few feet away.

He lets out a scream of pure rage. The time for words it over.

We shall see who’ll come out of it victorious.

He puts his all into his fight, exchanging blows with Tapal. He’s obviously putting up more of a challenge than any other Jedi did, and Maul _loves_ it; no matter how hard he gets kicked, the manic smile on his face doesn’t falter at all.

This is what he’s trained for, the reason of all his pain and anguish. It’s time to show everyone - and himself, though he refuses to admit he even needs this in the first place - that it hasn’t been in vain.

If only he’d manage to get even a small opening…

He has no idea about what is happening around them, having singled in Tapal entirely. The fact that he doesn’t need to pay attention is a testament to how well trained his squad is, or else he bets some young padawans - someone who wouldn’t know how sacred duels are - would’ve tried already to barge in to change the fight to the Jedi’s benefit.

Still, he doesn’t have to wait for long before feeling the pain and death around him. It’s a marvelous sensation that reinvigorates him, gives him strength.

A fleeting thought passes through his mind: it’s a shame that he doesn’t get to see Cody in action this time, but he can’t afford to get distracted, or else he’d be the one giving Tapal an opening, which would be shameful on his part. As soon as this thought arrives, he immediately pushes it down, this isn’t the time for that!

What he didn’t expect was for Tapal to catch it as well. Has he been projecting this hard?

“Even you are able to feel love,” he breathes out, clashing his staff against Maul’s. It takes him all his strength to parry it, with the result that they’re now locked into a contest of might. Given their tired state - how long has the fight been going on? - it’s obvious that this will be their final move: the one who manages to knock the other out of balance will win.

“Shut up!” Maul exclaims, gritting his teeth. How dares he spout this kind of nonsense? What does he know about him? Nothing! Absolutely nothing! Why would he even presume to know him, his feelings? He’s just a Jedi fool!

“I can feel it in you,” Tapal insists. “You are capable of loving, despite your efforts not to.”

He’s pushing, but Maul keeps resisting. Endure the pain, endure the fatigue, endure everything; he’s been living like this since he has memory of it, he won’t stop doing it now, not when he’s so close to victory. He can’t afford to lose, not when it would disappoint Obi-Wan, not when it would disappoint Cody, not when it would disappoint… _himself_.

“I said shut up!”

He pushes back this time, making Tapal grunts.

“Even if you deny it, the evidence is there. _You aren’t a good Sith…_ ”

He…

Did he…

He said…

There’s nothing human in the way Maul screams, putting all his rage and anguish and fear and spite in it.

He _is_ a good Sith! He’s defeated countless Jedi by now, he’d killed his own Master! Everybody fears him! Does this sound like a bad Sith?!

“And what do you know?” he hisses, determined to respond in kind. “Didn’t you lose your padawan? That’s right, he’s with us now. Maybe you’ll see him soon in the afterlife…”

At those words, Tapal hesitates; hearing news of his padawan must have shaken him. _Such weakness._

Deciding to take a step from his old book and taking advantage of this moment of imbalance on Tapal’s part, Maul pushes again, then with a fast movement he takes the metal edge of his staff and slams it against Tapal’s head, making him waver a few steps back. Heh, they all fall for it.

Using that moment of weakness, Maul moves immediately, running Tapal’s torso with his staff, grinning at how he grunts, realization of his loss evident in his eyes.

He tries to keep himself up with all his might, but eventually he falls to his knees, right in front of Maul. Oh, the power rush feels so good, and Maul can’t stop smiling for it, admiring his handiwork; Tapal’s having difficulties breathing. He looks like he’s trying to say something, but he can’t.

Well, Maul decides to help him, in order to honor their duel: it’s with the utmost satisfaction that he raises his staff again, and with a decisive move, he beheads Tapal, whose head begins to roll in the dirt, stopping not too far from the body, which has now fallen on the ground completely.

A quiet chuckle erupts from Maul’s lips, but soon it turns into something more, something louder.

He did it, he truly did it. Most importantly, he did it alone: sure, he wasn’t actually alone, but he took on Tapal single-handedly and he’s defeated him. Nobody else was here to help him in the duel, not even Kenobi.

This is his victory and only _his_.

It’s only now, noticing the silence surrounding him, that he finally allows himself to look around.

All the other Jedi are dead, along with great part of the troopers, but this isn’t what matters: standing tall, surrounded by dead bodies, there’s him, _Cody_.

At some point during the fight, he must’ve lost his bucket, because not only he’s not wearing it now, but Maul doesn’t even see it in his immediate vicinity. He can’t help but to be happy about it: the black armor fits Cody like a glove, but Maul wouldn’t say he’s fond of the bucket at all; he’d rather look at his face than that emotionless thing.

He’s still wielding the beskar staff Kenobi has gifted him as a prize for Mandalore’s successful invasion. Maul remembers being skeptic and perplexed when it happened, not understanding of what use such a refined weapon could have for a clone, but now he knows, he knows well. It’s the most appropriate weapon for someone like Cody, a fitting instrument of death. He’s holding it tightly, posture still rigid, as if he’s expecting other Jedi to show up, but Maul can feel the Force, he knows that they’ve eliminated everyone.

It’s then that he notices that he’s covered in blood; well, it isn’t something that unheard of, when it comes to Cody, since the beskar staff is a blunt weapon unlike lightsabers, but there something about him being covered in blood _now_ of all times, looking beautiful in his carnage, that makes Maul feel dizzy.

He _wants_. He wants to taste him so bad.

He approaches him with long strides. Cody doesn’t even notice him, busy as he is catching his breath after the long fight. Maul doesn’t care.

The force he uses to grab his face and crash their lips together might be exaggerated, but Cody replies in kind, pushing back against Maul immediately; he’s not even the least bit surprised, which does irritate Maul a bit: he hoped he could’ve taken him by surprise, but like this it seems more like he’s seen it coming already. Thinking about it, he’s not _that_ wrong. Maybe it was just a matter of time…

It hardly matters now, not when Maul can taste blood on Cody’s lips, unsure if it’s their enemies, Cody’s or his, with the aggressive way they keep kissing, all tongue and teeth, exactly how Maul likes it.

There’s a loud clang, informing him of the fact that Cody has dropped his staff, using his now free arms to circle Maul’s waist, pulling him closer. Being enveloped in his arms feels good, better than Maul thought it would ever fill; normally he isn’t fond of such things, Obi-Wan knows it well: it makes him feel soft, which in turn makes him feel weak, and he doesn’t like feeling weak. With Cody it’s different: there is the fact that he’s taller, that’s still annoying, but for once the feeling that spreads inside Maul isn’t one of rage. It’s like they were meant to be like this. He doesn’t know why he feels like this, but it’s also true that at the moment he’s not really in the mood for some self-reflection - when is he ever?

He cups Cody’s face in his hands, keeping him close in the kiss. He should’ve taken his gloves off, because then he would’ve been able to feel Cody better. How would the bite scar or his cheek feel against his bare fingers? Maul can’t help but to wonder. If he remembers correctly, one of Cody’s brothers - why he insists on calling them that is beyond him - gave it to him, before Cody himself had to kill him. What would Maul make him feel if he touches it? Would he remember? Would he suffer? Would he be angry? So many possibilities, and yet…

They pull away at the same time, eyes blown wide at the realization of what they’ve just done. There’s silence around them, which is good, because if even one trooper tried to utter a word about this, they’d all be dead.

“We still have to report back,” Cody states, clearing his throat. He bends down to take the beskar staff, and Maul isn’t ashamed at all in the way he checks him out as he does so - what? They’ve kissed already, this shouldn’t be weird.

He extends a hand, reaching into the Force, and in a moment Cody’s bucket, lost in the rabble, shoots up towards him. Maul grabs it and hands it to Cody, but not before leaning closer, licking a vertical stripe along Cody’s lips.

“This isn’t over,” he says, voice sounding more like a threat than anything else, but it still brings as smile to Cody’s face. He nods, before putting his bucket back on. Shame.

With that, the two walk back towards the ship, trusting the rest of the crew with the cleanup process. Now the have to report back to Kenobi, to announce their victory, then… Then who knows.

The trepidation Maul is feeling right now is unlike any other sentiment he’s ever felt. He can’t wait to see how things will evolve from now on.

Oh, the face Obi-Wan will make when they come back to him… _It’s going to be so good_.


End file.
